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The Three: A Novel

Page 28

by Sarah Lotz


  From: bearingthecross@aol.com

  Date: 27/05/2012

  DO NOT contact me again. I will contact you.

  Although Pastor Len’s website, pamelaprophet.com, is no longer up and running, the following entry was cached on 19 May 2012.

  My heart has been truly warmed by the messages I’ve been receiving following our Brother Jim Donald’s Martyrdom.

  For that’s what he was, Loyal Messengers. Jim Donald was a martyr. He was a martyr who gave up his life for all of us just like his dear wife Pamela did. I urge you not to take any credence of Dr Lund’s words that by taking his own life Jim Donald was committing a sin. Jim is a martyr who died so that we would know the truth. A prophet who sacrificed himself to bring us the Good News that God in His Glory has chosen to open the fifth seal.

  As it says in Revelation 6:9, And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.

  Loyal Messengers, Jim Donald, like Pamela May Donald, was a martyr to his beliefs. I was there when he was saved, after he mourned the death of his beloved wife, and at the moment of his death, God chose to send him a vision.

  I’m choosing to put his last words here for you all to see:

  Why were they saved and not her? She was a good person and a good wife and I don’t want to do this any more they are not rite in the head they are evil. They brought on the deaths of thousands and will bring on the deaths of more UNLESS THEY ARE STOPPED.

  Jim’s meaning, just like Pamela’s, is clear. Time is running out for all of us and we must do what we can to bring as many people to the Pamelist flock as soon as we can. Is there a higher calling than saving as many as we can before that sixth seal is opened?

  Pamela May Donald was the Lord’s conduit. She was the vessel through which His message was conveyed. Dr Lund and those other charlatans have tried to hijack her message and Jim has proved this. Dr Lund does not believe that the fifth seal has yet been opened, but he is wrong.

  ‘The boy, warn them,’ Pamela May Donald told me.

  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on they that dwell on the earth?

  Lorne Neilson reluctantly agreed to be interviewed in July 2012. This account is an edited version of our conversation.

  I’m gonna come right out and say it: I never trusted Len Vorhees. Not from the first day he arrived in Sannah County. Could talk the talk, all right, but far as I was concerned, that man was all hat and no cattle.

  But Reba took to him right away and I guess it saved us driving over to Denham County every Sunday for church. None of us knew what to think when he started saying that those kids were the four horsemen. Reba was loyal to that church, and I wasn’t going to push her. Way I saw it, it was plain that Len was using a dead woman’s last words for his own ends, as a means to get in with those big-time preachers up in Houston. Then he went and mixed Jim Donald up in that. Jim could be as mean as a box of snakes, but Pam’s death hit him hard. Stopped coming into work, wouldn’t talk to his buddies. Len shoulda let him be, let him drink himself to death if that’s what he wanted.

  You know who I blame for it all going bad? Not Jim and not even those reporters who spread it all over the newspapers and TV. I blame Dr Lund and that writer guy, Flexible Sandy. They encouraged Len right from the beginning. No one can say they’re not guilty, no matter what slick language they use to deny it.

  A week after Jim’s funeral, Stephenie’s cousin Billy had to deliver some lumber to Len’s ranch, and he asked me to ride along with him. Said he didn’t want to go up there on his own, and his regular man was down with that puke virus that was hitting the county. Reba asked me to take along some of her canned peaches. ‘For the children out there.’

  It’d been a while since I’d last been to Len’s ranch, must have been near Christmas or thereabouts. I’d seen all those new people of course, driving around in their pick-ups and SUVs with dented sides, and part of me was curious to see what was going on up there. Billy said it made him uneasy being around them. Most were from the state, but others had driven up from as far away as New Orleans.

  We got up to the gate, saw that there were a couple of men standing there. One of them was that Monty guy, the one Reba took against. They waved us down, asked us what we wanted, like they were sentries. Billy told them and they stood back, let us go through, but they stared at us real suspicious.

  There weren’t as many trailers or tents as I expected, but there were enough. Kids were running everywhere; women huddled in groups. As we drove up, I could sense them watching us. I said to Billy that Grayson Thatcher, who used to work the place before Len came, would’ve near had a heart attack if he’d seen what had happened to his ranch.

  Soon as we drew up, Pastor Len came striding out of the ranch-house, this big grin on his face, and a couple of guys appeared from the barn, started unloading the wood.

  I greeted him as polite as I could, handed over the peaches Reba had sent.

  ‘Thank her for me, Lorne,’ he said. ‘She’s a good woman. Tell her I’d be mightily glad to see her out here on Sunday. I was sorry to close the church in town, but God has shown me that my path leads here.’

  Course, I had no intention of telling Reba any such thing.

  Then, coming from the pasture out back, I heard gunfire. Sounded like automatic weapons, too. ‘What you doing out there, Len? Hunting season’s closed.’

  ‘We gotta keep sharp, Lorne. God’s work isn’t only about prayers.’

  It’s everyone’s God-given right to protect himself. I taught my girls how to shoot, same as me and Reba have been encouraging them to be prepared for any of those solar flares they’re predicting will occur. But this sounded like a whole nother rodeo–like they were fixing for some sort of battle. The more I looked around, the worse I got to feeling. It was clear they were fixing to set up some kind of secure compound. Rolls of barbed wire stacked up next to the old feed barn, and Billy said they were more than likely going to be using that wood to build some kind of fence.

  Billy and I got out of there as fast as we could. ‘You think we should tell Sheriff Beaumont ’bout what they’re doing out here?’ Billy asked.

  You could see it was going to go bad, you could smell it as if it was two-day-old roadkill.

  So we went and saw Manny Beaumont. Asked him if he knew what was going on up at that ranch. Manny said that until the Pamelists broke any laws, there wasn’t nothing he could do about them. Lots of questions were asked later. Why weren’t the FBI monitoring his emails, things like that, like they do with those Islamofascists? Guess they didn’t reckon on a backwater preacher being able to reach out into the wider world and cause the trouble that he did. Or maybe they were worried they’d have another Waco on their hands if they tried to shut him down.

  Before Private First Class Jake Wallace left Okinawa Island, he sent the following email to his parents in Virginia on 11 June 2012. It was released to the press after his body was formally identified.

  Mom, Dad,

  I’m doing this for you and Cassie.

  Someone has to become God’s Soldier in the Fight for Souls and I have stepped up to do my duty. The signs are getting clearer. Those floods in the Philippines, the war that’s going to happen in North Korea. The fourth Horseman they found down in Africa.

  I got to work fast now as time is running out.

  I am writing this to beg you to go and get Saved and take Jesus into your hearts before it is too late.

  Dad, I know you don’t believe, and I am begging you as your son to please look at the evidence. God would not lie to us. You used to tell me that 9/11 was a government conspiracy and you would get pissed when none of us agreed with you. Please, Dad. Take Mom and Cassie to church and take the Lord into your heart. TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

  I will see you in heaven when Jesus takes us up to his bosom.

  Your Son
,

  Jake

  Monty Sullivan, the only Pamelist who agreed to speak to me, is currently incarcerated in the North Infirmary Command Protective Custody section at Rikers Island, where he is awaiting trial. We spoke via phone.

  EM: When did you first hear about Pastor Len Vorhees and his theory about the horsemen?

  MONTY SULLIVAN: I guess it was right at the beginning. I was a truck driver back then, delivering chickens from Shelby County to all over the state. The CB was quieter than usual, and I’d started playing the radio dials, looking for a rock station. Back then, I wasn’t into those religious shows at all. Heck, I didn’t even like country that much. When I was crossing into Sannah County, I came across Pastor Len’s show. Something about his voice got my attention.

  EM: Can you be more specific?

  MS: He sounded like he truly believed what he was saying. A lot of pastors and preachers you hear on the radio and TV, you get the idea that all they’re after is poor folks’ hard-earned cash. I was never much into religion back then, got turned off it when I was younger because of my ma. She was a real believer, sent off a monthly tithe to one of those super-church preachers down in Houston even when we didn’t have food in the house. I could tell Pastor Len was different, he didn’t once ask folks to send him any cash. And what he was saying, it caught my attention straight off. Course, Black Thursday was all over the news, and lots of preachers, specially the evangelicals, were saying it was another sign that we were all heading for Armageddon. Said the same thing after 9/11, so that wasn’t new. But Pastor Len’s point of view hit home. What he said about Pamela May Donald’s last words… The evidence was just too strong. All those colours on the planes matching up with the colours of the horsemen that John saw in Revelation; the facts that those kids shouldn’t have got away unhurt. When I finished my run a couple of days later, I went straight on the Internet, found Pastor Len’s site, pamelaprophet.com. He’d put all the evidence right there, in black and white. I read it all, then dug out my ma’s Bible which was the only thing of hers I still had. I’d sold the rest, though she didn’t leave me much. Guess you could say I was pretty wild in those days. I wasn’t into drugs or anything heavy, but I liked a drink back then, so that’s where the money went.

  After I heard Pastor Len’s show and read that website, I don’t think I slept for three days. I could feel something growing inside me. Course, Pastor Len told me later it was the Holy Spirit.

  I sent him an email, saying how I’d been real impressed by what he was saying. I didn’t think there was much of a chance I’d hear back from him. But I’m damned if he didn’t send me a message within the hour. And a personal one, not one of those automated messages lots of people use. I know it off by heart. Must’ve read it a million times: ‘Monty, I sure appreciate you contacting me. Your faith and honesty proves that I am on the right path, the path to saving more good folks just like yourself.’

  I waited till my day off, then I drove through the night, straight to Sannah County and Pastor Len’s church. Waited in line to get saved. Had to have been fifty people that day and there was a real festive atmosphere. We all knew we were doing the right thing. When I introduced myself to Pastor Len as he came along the line, thanking us for coming to his church, I never thought he would recall who I was, but he knew me straight off. ‘You’re the fella who wrote me from Kendrick!’ he said.

  The way he explained things so clear, I realised that I’d been blind for years. It broke my ma’s heart that I turned my back on the church when I was younger, and I wished that she could have lived long enough to see that I went back to Jesus’ fold. How can I not have seen we were heading for the End of Days? How can the Lord not have been priming to bring down His judgement on us after what was going on in the world? The more I looked into it, the more it made my head spin. Do you know that children in America are made, made to read the Koran in schools? But not the Bible, no ma’am. Intelligent Design is banned, but not the handbook of the infidels? Then there’s the gays and the baby murderers and the liberals conspiring to turn America into a godless nation. Dr Theodore Lund was right about that, even if he did turn his back on Pastor Len’s truth afterwards. Turned out that Dr Lund just wanted all the glory that came from Pamela’s message for himself. He wasn’t dedicated to saving souls; not like Pastor Len was.

  EM: When did you decide to move to Sannah County?

  MS: After I was saved, I came home and wrote Pastor Len almost every day for a few weeks. I felt a calling to move closer to his church round about early March and become one of his Messengers. It wasn’t a hard decision, the Lord was nudging me in that direction. When Pastor Len invited me to move to the ranch, I didn’t think twice. Jacked in my job, sold my truck and hitched all the way to Sannah County. He needed me as his good right hand.

  EM: Do you have a history of violence?

  MS: Not really, ma’am. Just the odd schoolyard fight, couple of bust-ups back when I used to drink. Not saying I was squeaky clean, but I was never a violent individual. Never ran into any trouble with the law.

  EM: Where did the weapon you used to shoot Bobby Small come from?

  MS: That particular gun belonged to Jim Donald. Wasn’t the one he used on himself, but one he’d given to us for safe-keeping. But I knew how to shoot. My father taught me how to use a gun before he cut out and left me and my ma, back when I was twelve.

  EM: Did you know Jim Donald?

  MS: Not well, ma’am. I met him once or twice. Pastor Len said he was struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife. Pastor Len did what he could to help him, but you could see Jim was real cut up about that. He was a real martyr, just like Pamela. He saw the truth about the destruction the horsemen had wrought on the world, and how they’d murdered those innocents on the planes.

  EM: Did Pastor Len instruct you to travel to New York to kill Bobby Small?

  MS: I did what anyone who cares about saving souls would have done. I was acting as God’s soldier, doing what I could to eradicate the threat and give people more time to be saved before the Rapture. If we can stop the signs in their tracks, halt the horsemen’s work, then we have more time to spread Jesus’ message and bring more people into the fold. Now that they’ve found that fourth horseman, now that fire and brimstone is falling upon the earth with all those natural disasters–the floods in the Philippines and Europe, and those tsunami warnings in Asia–we don’t have long.

  EM: But if you believe that the four horsemen are God’s messengers, weren’t you concerned that by attempting to murder Bobby Small you would be punished by God?

  MS: Now wait just one minute, ma’am. No one’s talking about murder. When the Antichrist comes, when that sixth seal is broken, there’s no going back. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get a second chance during the Tribulation. I am on God’s side; He knows that Pastor Len and the Pamelists are working hard to bring more people into his fold. And those children were unnatural. Everyone could see that. After a while they started using their power and flaunting it. They may have started off as God’s messengers, but I firmly believe what Jim told us–that they became tools of the Antichrist in the end.

  EM: Did Pastor Len Vorhees instruct you to shoot Bobby?

  MS: I can’t answer that, ma’am.

  EM: Many people believe that you acted under Pastor Len Vorhees’s influence and that he should be as accountable as you.

  MS: Jesus was punished for spreading God’s truth. It doesn’t matter to me what they say. I’ll be in Jesus’ arms soon. They can lock me up, they can put me in the chair, it’s all the same to me. And maybe it’s all part of Jesus’ plan. I’m locked in here with sinners, and here’s my chance to save as many of them as I can.

  PART NINE

  SURVIVORS

  MAY–JUNE

  In the weeks since Ryu first appeared on the 2-chan forum, the speculation over whether his princess was actually Hiro Yanagida’s cousin grew to fever pitch. Ryu eventually returned to the forum under his Orz Man
avatar.

  NAME: ORZ MAN POST DATE: 2012/05/01 21:22:22.30

  Hi guys. Don’t know if any of u who were on the thread I started a while back are online. Blown away by the way u guys have jumped on my story.

  Just wanted to say thanks again.

  NAME: ANONYMOUS23

  Orz! Cool to have u back. So????? Did it work??? Did u get yr princess? ()

  NAME: ORZ MAN

  Simple answer: Yes. We r now together.

  [This is followed by at least a hundred variations on ‘w00t’, and ‘u r such a Bad Ass Mutherfucker/Boss/Man/The Dude’ etc. Ryu goes on to explain how he sprayed an ORZ symbol outside Chiyoko’s house to get her attention, much to the Netizens’ glee.]

  NAME: ANONYMOUS557

  Orz. Got to know. Is the princess Android Boy’s cousin?

  NAME: ORZ MAN

  I was waiting for you to ask me that… I’ve been following some of the threads. I can’t confirm for obvious reasons.

  NAME: ANONYMOUS890

  Orz, u met Android Boy yet?

  NAME: ORZ MAN

  See above. _|7O

  NAME: ANONYMOUS330

  How hot is the princess, dude?

  NAME: ORZ MAN

  How to answer this and be honest…

  When I first saw her… She wasn’t the person I thought she was. But somehow, that didn’t matter.

  NAME: ANONYMOUS765

  So she’s the fat chick who was at the memorial service and not the one who looks like Hazuki? Bummer, dude.

  NAME: ANONYMOUS111

  Welcome back, Orz. Ignore 765

  NAME: ANONYMOUS762

  Dude, get to the good bits. Have you done her yet????

  NAME: ANONYMOUS111

  Don’t be crude. Let Orz Man speak

  NAME: ORZ MAN

  I’m going to sound soppy here, but guys, being with her has changed my life.

 

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